Opinion

How to solve the bullying problem in politics

Young people have learned some valuable lessons about how to behave when they grow up over the last few years. That it’s not ok to pick on someone because they are different, that it’s ok to speak up if you are getting picked on; and that bullying is a no-no. Good work, Safe Schools and the NSW Department of Education’s anti-bullying program.

Politicians have not yet learned those valuable lessons. Unfortunately, anti-bullying programs weren’t around when this lot were in school – and it is clearly far too late for a number of our representatives, some of whom need to attend re-education camps. These politicians do not know how to behave in public, or even in private.

Julia Banks in the House of Representatives, announcing her decision to quit the Liberal Party and join the crossbench.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Which is why I am imploring both political parties to embrace independent Cathy McGowan’s parliamentary standards bill (alongside a National Integrity Commission). The bill would govern the behaviour of parliamentarians. It would deliver all the things the rest of us have – a code of conduct and the possibility of referral to an independent body.

The gaping maw of absent parliamentary integrity emerged over the weekend. Grown men going hell for leather in front of schoolchildren, who I can only hope were distracted from these events. Influential men trying to bully Julia Banks, who abandoned the Liberal Party because she couldn’t get anyone to stop bad behaviour. And that’s on top of all the revelations of bullying during the foolish decision to dump Malcolm Turnbull for a lesser prime minister.

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What is bullying? According to the Fair Work Commission, bullying occurs when a person or a group of people repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards a worker or a group of workers at work and the behaviour creates a risk to health and safety.

The short problem is this: bullying is rife in our workplaces. If you compare the three months just passed to the same time period last year, you can see the number of applications to the Fair Work Commission for an order to stop bullying at work has increased by 17 per cent. I reckon it could be double that in Parliament.

Unfortunately for them, the folks who work as our parliamentary representatives don’t get protection from the Fair Work Commission. When it comes to bad parliamentary workplace behaviour, politicians have no one to turn to, except the media. Or the leaders of their parties. And we can see how that’s turned out for Liberal women. Liberal men are silent on bullying at work.

Crossbench MP Cathy McGowan.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

We have succeeded in stamping out unhealthy workplace behaviour in the past but it took quite some doing. And we can’t quite pull off what we did with smoking. Then we sent our colleagues into the stairwells and onto the streets. Now, you might occasionally get the odd whiff of tobacco in the loo but it’s rare. I’m unsure whether sending politicians to the naughty corner because of bullying would work because they would have too much company.

The Fair Work Commission doesn’t talk about power relationships in its definition of bullying – but it should. When Matt Canavan exercised his right to say what he thought about young ones taking to the streets to plead with his government to act on climate change, it was the worst form of bullying. This is a minister in the government demeaning the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community, threatening them with unemployment because they attended a protest.

Politicians are not just bullies. They also are victims of bullying. NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley revealed this week he planned to stand up against NRL bullies. The pressure in politics is unrelenting (we can already see that - a long line of brave parliamentarians have revealed their personal battles: Andrew Robb,Scott Ludlam, John Brogden and Geoff Gallop). We need to give politicians the tools to stand up for themselves (and us) without resorting to the tactics used against them.

The past few months have revealed the breadth and depth of the bullying problem in politics. Where’s Roz Ward when we need her most? Ward, the much maligned director of the Safe Schools program, was hounded from office by politicians who decided young people did not need to learn that bullying is bad. Maybe Ward could get a new gig. Running Safe Parliaments.

Jenna Price is an academic at the University of Technology Sydney and a Herald columnist.